Today at Bayou Bend, Ima Hogg’s former home, now a part of the Museum
of Fine Arts, Houston, there is a celebration of THE HOGGS OF TEXAS: LETTERS AND
MEMOIRS OF AN EXTRAORDINARY TEXAS FAMILY, 1887-1906, published in November 2013
by the Texas State Historical Association. www.tamupress.com/Catalog/ProductSearch.aspx?search=Hoggs
or
I
began work on it in 2008--the year of Hurricane Ike. In archives in Houston and
in Austin I sorted through hundreds of letters the Hoggs and their close
relatives had written to each other. Ima had seen to it that most of them were
carefully preserved. Sometime in the 1970s she also began a memoir, working
diligently, composing many drafts. It begins with her recollectios of life in
the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, and ends with her descriptions of student
days at the University of Texas and music studies in New York in the early
1900s. We are much the poorer because she did not live long enough to finish
it.
Portions
of the memoir are woven into the book, stitching together the narrative of a
remarkable family. If Ima had been present at Bayou Bend on January 25, 2014, I
think that she would have been pleased.
She
would also be pleased to have visitors at Bayou Bend. You can go to this
site to find out more.
http://www.mfah.org/visit/bayou-bend-collection-and-gardens/
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